588 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ December SO, 1880. 
unfortunate will accept the truth of Dr. Johnson’s observation, 
that “ all the complaints which are made of the world are 
unjust. I never knew a man of merit neglected. It was 
generally by his own fault that he failed of success." Yet 
assuredly those words contain much force, and should be 
pondered over until the full significance of the remark is ap¬ 
preciated by all young men. 
The pith of the above sentence is contained in the word 
“ merit," and its right interpretation. It is not what a man 
thinks of himself, but what others think of him, by which a 
true estimate of his character is formed. Work that a smart 
young gardener might deem degrading, his employer might 
regard the cheerful performance of as a most meritorious act. 
It is much to be feared that there are a few young men left 
who would feel themselves subjected to a great indignity if 
requested to leave “ the houses ” for an hour or two and assist 
in digging a plot of ground. But what would they think of a 
young gardener earning £30 by washing a carriage, and at¬ 
tracting the favourable notice of a duke by shaking a carpet ? 
Some years ago a young man who had received an excellent 
training in large gardening establishments, after w r aiting a 
year for a “ big place," fortunately took a small one—a single- 
handed place. He determined to manage it well, and also had 
the good sense to assist in other work occasionally without 
being asked to do so, when he saw aid was needed. In the 
absence of the groom one day the carriage was wanted ; the 
gentleman could harness the horse and drive, and he would 
have taken the dirty vehicle, but the gardener promptly in¬ 
tervened and washed it. The owner was so favourably im¬ 
pressed by the man’s act that he added £10 a year to his 
wages. Three years afterwards a noble duke, after admiring the 
garden generally and seme feature particularly, asked for the 
gardener. “ There he is in the field helping to shake carpets," 
replied the gentleman. “ Oh!" answered the duke, “if he 
can garden like this, and shake carpets like that, he will do 
for me.” The man’s single-handed career then ended, and 
his carpet-shaking too. That episode in a gardener’s life was 
told to me by the gentleman in question, and is strictly true. 
Stock was taken of that young gardener as it is of all young 
men, and those who are the most punctual and attentive, in¬ 
dustrious and willing, usually attain to good positions com¬ 
paratively early in life. 
Trusting to friends for assistance, and doing little beyond 
waiting for an opportunity, is not the true way to succeed. 
Taking stock of men, and wants, and means, and circumstances, 
and meeting them in the best possible way, is the true mode of 
promoting good will, and making the closing year pleasant 
and the opening year bright.—A Veteran. 
THE AUTUMN FLOWERING OF AURICULAS. 
I see a correspondent at page 545 says the unusual quantity of 
autumn-blooming Auriculas does not seem to promise a good 
display in the spring. What is the reason that Auriculas bloom 
so much in autumn 1 I have not a large collection, and not 
1 per cent, of the plants have bloomed, but then I give them 
abundance of water through the summer and autumn until the cold 
of winter stops the growth. Most spring-flowering plants and 
all spring-flowering Primulas have a tendency to bloom in autumn 
and early winter after a hot dry season ; and if Auriculas have 
similar conditions it is only natural that they should also bloom 
at that time. These beautiful flowers are so easily cultivated that 
I should be glad to see them patronised by gardeners in the same 
way as Cinerarias, and made part of the usual stock of the garden. 
Will some florist kindly answer the above question ?—R. P. B. 
GALVANISED WIRE AND FRUIT TREES. 
(Continuedfrom page 560.) 
A STEWARD and estate agent of great experience and ability 
once taught me a useful lesson. His object through life had been 
to gain a thorough knowledge of everything connected with his 
charge, including the management of land. Engaged in high- 
class farming he was purchasing soot largely, but had an idea 
that it was not wholly free from adulteration, and he was anxious 
to acquire a simple mode of testing the genuineness or otherwise 
of the article. It occurred to him that a chimney-sweep might 
be of service in this respect, and he determined to make friends 
withonc—nota “ master sweep,” who had soot to sell—he was too 
shrewd for that; but a journeyman, who had to climb up chimneys 
and crawl through flues, such labour then being legal. A silver 
coin and a compliment, ostensibly as an expression of satisfaction 
at the manner in which a dusky worker had performed his duty, 
easily led the man into a conversation which naturally glided into 
soot and its uses, and in reply to a question adroitly put as to how 
to know whether soot was pure or not, the good-humoured individual 
observed, “ I’ll tell you, sir, how you may always know. Push 
your hand into a heap and grasp a handful as tightly as possible. 
If it flies through your fingers and you can’t hold it you may be 
certain the soot is pure ; but if it cakes in your hand and you can 
hold it, you may be sure it is adulterated.” The value of this 
information, obtained at the cost of half-a-crown, was estimated 
by the steward at £100, and his advice to others seeking know¬ 
ledge w r as afterwards conveyed in the sentence, “ If you want to 
know anything about soot make friends with a sweep.” 
“ But what has this to do with galvanised wire and fruit trees ? ” 
someone will ask. It has nothing immediately to do with the 
subject, but the hint is worth recording ; and it was the remem¬ 
brance of it that led me to make some inquiries in search of a 
mode of reconciling the conflicting statements of several writers 
who could not be mistaken on the subject, that the wire in question 
was innocuous in some cases and decidedly injurious in others 
when employed in connection with fruit trees. Remembering the 
old steward’s advice I determined to make friends—not with a 
sweep, but an intelligent mechanic, who had assisted in making 
and using hundreds of miles of galvanised wire. This man I 
found, and further learned that he was a lover of flowers ; indeed, 
he has a greenhouse with a Vine in it, and I could see he felt 
quite proud when I w r ent to “ look at his plants.” 
The Vine I perceived was trained to copper wire. I asked in 
a casual manner why he did not use galvanised wire. He re¬ 
plied with an astonished look, “ Do you think I’m a fool 1 ” By 
way of assuring him of the contrary I told him that I had used 
the wire for years, and seen miles of it used for fruit trees of all 
kinds without injury, but that other gardeners had found it 
decidedly injurious. “ Of course they have,” was the reply ; it 
must be injurious, and your wire had not been long in the acid, 
or it was old wire.” I thought the moment now opportune to 
promise to give my friend a “few cuttings,” and he became the 
more communicative. He earned the cuttings and had them, 
and his theory or practice is worth recording with another theory 
that has been suggested, and between the two a little light may 
possibly be thrown on an obscure subject. 
The so-called galvanised wire I have found is not galvanised 
wire at all, it is simply iron wire drawn through a bath of molten 
zinc and coated. Neither electricity nor galvanism, as in the 
case of electro-plating, has anything to do with the process ; but 
before the wire is placed in the zinc bath it is immersed in muri¬ 
atic acid with the object of rendering the surface perfectly clean, 
as, if the slightest particle of grease or any extraneous matter 
adheres to it, it will not “ take the zinc.” 
If the wire is coated when quite new, and free from rust, grease, 
or any other impurity, it has only to remain in the acid for a 
moment. This is the best wire, as it is the most tough and pliable, 
the fibre not being injured by the acid ; but if some time has 
elapsed between the making of the wire and coating it, the surface 
becomes much soiled and a much longer immersion in the acid is 
imperative ; to such an extent is this the case that occasionally 
the wire is quite saturated, and the fibre of the iron is destroyed ; 
hence the brittleness of some wire, which all who have used it 
extensively will have experienced. Some wire, indeed, is so brittle 
or “ rotten ” that it cannot be used at all. A scientific friend 
informs me that the wire does not absorb the acid at all, but the 
workman says it does, and changes its colour throughout, as any¬ 
one can see who cuts it; he also says that all the acid absorbed 
by the wdre “sweats” out of it again through the zinc; and 
further, if one end of a thick piece of galvanised iron is placed in 
the fire he can “ see the escape of the acid through the zinc 
coating.” Hence he concludes that the escaping acid that “ works 
out” and comes in contact with vegetation must corrode it and 
destroy that portion of the branch or leaf that it touches. If 
this man’s theory, derived wholly from practice and observation, 
is correct, w r e arrive at a reason why in some gardens the wire is 
injurious and in others not—namely, some of the wire employed 
has been saturated with the powerful acid, and other wire has only 
been slightly acted on by this cleansing medium ; or some wire 
has been used when almost fresh from the bath, while another 
sample is older and time has been afforded for the escape of the 
poisonous fluid. 
This accords with the remark of a correspondent, “ W. W.,” who 
has stated that there is “ galvanised wire and galvanised wire,” 
and that “ the older the wire the more safe it is to use.” He arrived 
